Electric Lovers
by The Lady Ash
Summary: TIS IS AN AU! What if Johnny and Pony didn't go to windrixville? What about Johnny and Dallas's relationship? Is it really just brotherly love... Or somthing more?
1. Chapter 1

The bitter cold of night gnawed at my skin as I tried to stay warm. Ponyboy left me here, though I don't mind. I could have gone with him, but I stupidly chose not to. The fire we had built had long been burned out and the shivers that were rocking through me seemed to get worse. Man, it was cold. I sat up to see newspapers scattered around me. These would work. Collecting them, I covered my body with them to keep me warm and soon, I was asleep.

O.o--o.O

"Umph! Johnny, we gotta get out of here!" A scared Ponyboy cried through a tear-stained face as he tripped over me. I sat straight up, though the air was knocked out of me, making me feel a bit dizzy.

When air was regained, and my vision became clear, I pushed myself off the ground and looked at Ponyboy. "What's the matter, Pony?" I asked. Seeing him look like this frightened me. "What happened?"

"You got a smoke, Johnny? I'm scared to death." he said, his voice quivering with fright. I got out my pack of smokes and handed him one, which he preceded to light and take a drag of.

"Ponyboy, tell me what's the matter with you." I said, trying to gain more confidence.

"Darry hit me! Oh, c'mon Johnnycake, we're running away!" Pony stuck the smoke in his mouth and grabbed my hand, and starting to fly towards the park.

"What?! Pony-" but I couldn't get the rest of my sentence out. Pony had tripped, causing me to stumble and land headfirst in the dirt. When I found that I could push myself up into a sitting position, I did so and looked around to see Pony taking a very long drag on his cigarette.

"Ponyboy, we can't run away." The poor boy looked scared to death, and he probably was. To my surprise, he nodded in agreement and looked around nervously.

"Yeah, I know… I don't know what I was thinkin'… C'mon, let's go to the park and maybe I'll cool off." he said shakily. I couldn't help but smile as I got up and shoved my hands into my pockets. The park wasn't that far from the lot, so we would be there in less than five minutes. Soon I needed a smoke, so I took one out and lit it.

"Ponyboy… What do you mean Darry hit you?" I asked suddenly, curiosity pouring out of me.

"I… I dunno.. We got into this big fight over me comin' home at three… And then he yelled at Soda, so I yelled back... And then he hit me. We used to get along fine before mom and dad died! But I don't know what happened, Johnny! I don't know why we fight so much now."

I grunted at that, not sure whether I liked it better when my Dad was hittin' me or ignorin' me. My eyes soon landed on Pony, he was shivering from the cold and I put my arms around him in an effort to comfort him and to warm him up.

"It'll be okay, Pony. I'm sure Darry didn't mean it." I said with a small smile as we reached the jungle gym.

That's when things went wrong.

A blue Mustang pulled up at the side of the park and four Socs got out of it. My whole body tensed when I realized that they were heading our way. "Should we run for it?" I asked, prepared to do that at a moment's notice.

Ponyboy took a drag of his ever shortening weed and looked at me. "Just stay cool, man."

That's when I saw it. They were the ones who'd beaten me up a while back. "It's that guy with the rings, man." I said quietly as he walked up to us.

"Aren't these the ones that tried to…pick up on our women?" he asked his goons, they all laughed and some gave a "yeah" or an "uh-huh" and with each noise I was getting tenser and tenser. Truth was I was scared, I didn't want to get hurt again.

Bob, I think his name was, or the one with the rings took a swing from his beer and broke out in a bunch of giggles, his goons followed suit, even though it didn't make much sense.

"Hey, hey! You know what a Grease is?" a different one piped up, "white trash with long, greasy hair." He sneered at Ponyboy and I, and then broke out into a fit of giggles. My throat was dry, as if I hadn't had anything to drink in days, and when I tried to swallow, it sent pin-pricks down my throat and I ended up in a fit of coughing, which had Ponyboy thumping me on my back. He was right back on the bar that he was hanging from when I could breathe again. The other Socs laughed and the ring leader tossed the rest of his booze on Ponyboy who flinched, and almost lost his balance from the bar that he was hanging off of.

"Yeah? Well you know what a Soc is?" Ponyboy retorted. As he was speaking, I almost jumped out of my skin. I looked at him, why was he egging them on? Was he trying to get us killed?

"What?" The reply was a bored one, as if the Socs weren't worthy of insults.

"White trash with Mustangs and madras." Ponyboy spit at him and started off at a sprint, which had me immediately following him.

"Get 'em!" I heard them yell as they began to chase us through the park. We got to the fountain, then I tripped and the Socs took me down. I cried out for Pony, which made him turn around and look at me. This allowed Bob and another Soc to take him down, kicking and punching him.

A kick was landed to my head and I saw stars. My lip was cracked and I could feel the blood running down my face, until I could taste it in my mouth.

"Johnny!" Ponyboy's cries sent shivers down my spine, they were mixed with splashes and that made me assume the worst; they were going to drown him. My heart started beating faster than it already had been as I tried to reach him.

"Pony!"

Another kick was landed to my chest and it knocked the wind out of me. I rolled over, wincing at the pain, and coughed out blood.

"Stay there, kid." One of them said as he landed another blow just to make sure that I stayed on the ground. They jogged over to where they were attacking Ponyboy and joined in on what they called fun. Rage flowed through my veins and I took out my switch. I painfully pulled myself up, bending over a bit from the pain.

"Let go of him." I ordered, my eyes like daggers. One of them looked at me and smirked as if I wouldn't do anything. I started to walk over to them and my hand twitched, as if it wanted blood.

The leader of the group turned to look at me, still holding drowning Pony. He had a smug look on his face.

"What are you gonna do kid? You can't defend yourself. Look at those scars I gave you." He sneered. All of the Socs turned from the fountain and crossed their arms.

"I can do a lot." I said, trying to sound tuff, but naturally, it sounded stupid and got laughed at. The leader took a swing at me and before I could stop it, my blade caught him in his chest and he looked at me as if I were insane. In my peripheral, I could see Pony collapsing onto the ground next to the fountain, unconscious. From the rush of what was happening, I didn't may too much attention to him.

"Shit, man! Run!" One of them called as he started to run away from the scene, the other's quickly following suit. Some looked back, horror on their faces.

I watched as the Soc fell to the ground in a crumpled heap with my blade in his chest. Soon, I followed him and fell to my knees as if I couldn't believe what I had done. I was scared out of my mind… I yanked the blade out of his chest and tried to stop the bleeding even though I knew it was a waste of time. He was already dead.

I'd killed him…

The thought ran through my head and I rolled over and hurled my guts out. I was disgusted with myself and with the scene; there was blood everywhere. What would my dad do when he found out? Or worse, what would Dally do? Man, I would definitely get it then; Dally was so protective over me. He said if I ever went to jail, he was gonna skin me.

The thought of him was comforting to me. The thought of his face, of his rare smile, it made all this that much brighter. I pushed myself back up against the fountain and tried to think of how I could get out of this… But I wasn't no lawyer! What did I know about convictions or whatever?

A moan came from nearby the fountain and I soon realized that about an hour passed while I had been staring blankly at my blade. My head swirled and I saw Pony coming to. Ponyboy. I had forgotten about him and I mentally kicked myself for it. It was him I was protecting.

"Johnny?" Ponyboy asked blindly after hacking up water. He looked around to me and all I could do was stare at my blood drenched blade.

"I killed him" Ponyboy rolled out of the fountain and onto the ground as if to get a better look at me, a confused expression on his face.

"What?"

"I killed that boy." Ponyboy looked at the body and then back at me, eyes wide. His face grew pale and he looked queasy.

"I think I'm gonna be sick…." He said, groaning a bit.

"Go ahead, man. I won't look at you." I said quietly, staring into the now red glint on the blade I held. As he came back over to where I sat, I didn't look at him full on. I could tell he was trembling. Scared. So was I…

"You really killed him, huh, Johnny?"

"Yeah…" I could hear my own voice quavering. "I had to. They were drowning you, Pony. And they had a blade. They were gonna beat me up…"

"Like…like they did before?" He asked me, making me look up towards him.

I didn't speak for a moment, gazing back towards the blade. "Yeah." I finally spoke up. "Like they did before."

"Pony what are we gonna do? We… I don't think that we can stay here." I said, trying to control my panic filled voice.

"We can't run away, Johnny. We have to tell someone. Maybe we could go tell Da-"

"We can't tell Dally!" I cried, eyes growing in diameter. Ponyboy shook his head,

"I was going to say Darry, or even Soda. Dally would kill us if he found out." I nodded at that, Darry would skin me alive, but something in me said that I wouldn't care. If he did, then at least I would get the feeling that he cared about me. That was really all I wanted in this world; for Dally to be proud of me, to care about me.

"I guess we can go to Darry… But in the morning, I think we should tell the police." I said with a small shiver. The thought of cops throwing me in jail, or shooting me down, was scary.

"Alright… Johnny?"

"Yeah?"

"What'll happen if... you go to jail?" The younger boy asked me. I looked at him for a second then stood up, holding out my hand for him to take, which he did.

"Then I guess I go to jail. I did kill him." I said with a small shrug of my shoulders. I started walking towards Pony's house with him in tow, wondering how I was going to tell his brother. And then there was the fact that Dallas was soon to know. Ponyboy shrugged at my comment and soon we were at his house. I opened the door only to see two sleeping friends. Soda, his light brown, greased back hair a messy mop, laying down on the couch, his arms and legs flung out in every which way, his mouth hanging open with a noise reminiscent to snoring coming out of his mouth. And Darry, his short blonde hair with the little swirl of hair in the middle of his forehead, sitting in the chair, his head fallen forward.

"I think they stayed up waiting for me." Ponyboy whispered. Darry's head moved and he snorted. He looked up and a noise like a startled grunt came from his throat.

"Ponyboy!" Soon Darry was up and put of the chair running towards Ponyboy and I, scooping Pony up in his arms and hugging him tightly.

"Ponyboy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I don't know what was going through my head. I didn't mean to hit you, I-"

"Darry, it's ok." All the commotion had Soda up and rubbing his eyes. He sat up and stretched. "Man, Pony, you sure had us scared." he said lazily, then his gaze fell on me and his face scrunched up.

"Johnnycake? What're you doing here?" A hot blush crept into my cheeks and I tried to avoid his gaze.

"I… I had to come home with Ponyboy. I hope you don't mind." My voice was stiff with fear and I guess Soda and Darry could sense it because Darry let go and looked at Soda then back at me.

"What happened, Johnny?" Darry asked me.

"I, uh…" I couldn't find my voice I didn't know how to tell them.

"Johnny, what happened to you face?" Soda was up, off the couch and over to me, taking my face in his hands and looking over my face.

"What do you mean?" That's when Soda touched it. My face stung like a thousand bees had hit it at once.

"Ouch!"

Soda's touch was gone and so was he, into the kitchen, shuffling things around in the ice box. Soon he was back with a pack of ice. He handed it to me.

"Put that over your face." he said, taking the ice from me and doing it for me.

"P-Ponyboy and I got jumped…" I couldn't talk anymore, I was crying to hard. I didn't know what to say, and I was so scared that Darry and Soda were gonna get mad, which I knew that they were.

"Johnny killed the Soc." Pony finally said after minutes of nothing but me crying. Soda almost dropped the bag of ice, and Darry's jaw dropped.

"Johnny did what?"

"They was drowning me! They wouldn't stop, so Johnny…he did it! All of the others ran." I could have kissed Pony.

"What'd you do with the body?" Soda asked. Pony and I looked at each other and then back at the other two boys.

"We didn't think to do anything with it." I said quietly, my crying had finally stopped and now all that had to go back to normal was my heart rate.

"Good, at least you didn't try to hide the evidence." Darry said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and walking over to the telephone.

"I'm gonna call Dally and the rest and tell them to get over here." Fear trickled down my spine and I shook my head violently.

"N-no! Please don't tell Dallas." I cried, running over to Darry.

"I gotta, kid, he's the only one that's been in a murder wrap. He'll know what to do." Darry said. My face fell as I realized that he was right and we had to call Dally. He was about the only one that might be able to get us out of this mess.

"And in the morning you're gonna have to go downtown and tell them what happened." Soda said to me as he put the ice back on my face. Pony was silent as he walked to the couch and fell on it. He looked exhausted.

"Why don't you boys go on into your bedroom, Pony, and get some sleep, we'll wake you up when the others get here." Darry told us, more of an order than a request. Pony and I nodded, grateful, and dragged ourselves into the bed room. We were both asleep before our head hit the pillows. We hadn't even bothered to get under the covers we were so tired.

The last thing that I remembered before sweet sleep fell over my eyes was Darry's voice.

"I haven't the slightest idea why they came here and not there, Dallas."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: You don't get another chapter till I get at least three reviews.**

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I woke up to muffled voices, my ears catching whispers like "what'd they do?" or I'd hear mine or Pony's name. When my eyes opened, everything just seemed to be one big mesh of colors. It all became clear before I sat up and looked around, tired. For a second I couldn't remember what had happened, but then my body regained all feeling and I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. I moaned a bit and ran a hand through my hair.

Soft snores came from the sleeping boy next to me and I smiled faintly, his tree-bark-brown hair a mess, probably like mine.

"Darry, what happens if the judge doesn't side with us?" Steve asked bitterly.

"It's not the judge, it's the jury, man."

His voice was like music to my ears, in fact, I think my ears perked at his voice, like a puppies. I threw the covers that had somehow found their way on top of me off and scrambled out into the dining room. That was where the table was and that was where we had all of our discussions.

"Hey, Johnny!" Dally said with surprise, standing up so fast that his chair knocked over with a loud thud. I ran to him and gave him a hug, despite how strange it was for me. Being in his arms always seemed to make it better, at least for now.

"Dally, what are we going to do?" I asked him, my voice muffled from my head being buried in his chest.

"You're gonna tell the cops what you did and exactly what happened." He said, his voice strained with something that I couldn't identify. I looked up at him, my eyes must have been big and round, I could see them almost perfectly in Dally's deep blue eyes.

"C'mon, Johnny, don't look at me like that." His voice came out gruffly and I looked away, withdrawing myself from the hug that I was still in.

"Sorry, Dallas." I mumbled, my eyes casted towards the floor. His hand ruffled my hair like it was another normal night, like I hadn't killed someone...

I had to stop dwelling on that. There was no point; it would only get me worked up again and that wasn't going to accomplish anything.

"Hey," Dally took me by the shirt sleeve and dragged me into another room. He looked like he was on edge, which I guess we all were. "I'm not sure about you talking to the cops… jail ain't gonna be good for you, kid."

I watched him curiously, seeing an emotion in his eyes that wasn't usual for Dallas Winston. It looked like a blend of worry, caring… it confused me a little. "I won't get in as much trouble if I just go straight to the cops, Dal. You know that." He sighed and looked away; I could tell that he was frustrated.

"Fine, kid. Just…" He didn't finish his sentence, giving me one last look before turning and walking out of the room.

I followed him out to see that everyone was sitting in the living room, the TV now playing Mickey Mouse. As usual, we all sat down to watch it.

Ponyboy came out of the room after at least an hour of watching Mickey on the TV. He looked real tired and I felt bad. If I hadn't been so weak… maybe if I hadn't stabbed Bob… well, this wouldn't have happened. Then Pony wouldn't have been dragged into this.

"Hey, Pony." Darry said gently, a concerned look in his eyes. Ponyboy looked to his older brother, a small smile on his face. "It's eight..." he said quietly, glancing at the window. We all did the same to see that the sun was up now, and soon it would be time to go and confess what we had done. The thought sent shivers down my spine.

The entire room was tense, the air thick as everyone glanced at each other, worry etched onto their faces.

I got up and walked into Pony's room where he followed me and got out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, tossing them at my chest. "Here," a smile crept onto my face. He really was my best friend.

"Thanks, man." Ponyboy just shrugged as he went about getting dressed in his usual attire.

"You know that you need a coat, right?" Darry asked, as his gaze fell upon us from the doorway. Ponyboy looked over to him and he nodded, his eyes rolling. Darry left the doorway to head into the boys' room, most likely to get us jackets. That's when it happened.

The door flung open and slammed into the wall, making us all jump. Police officers shouted for all of us to hold up our hands as they entered the house. With my shirt half-way on, I raised them, and it fell messily onto my skin. I looked to Ponyboy; my face must have been contorted with a deep fear that was running through me.

"Put your hands behind you." The one nearest me barked. Once I had done so, they cuffed me and shoved me roughly towards the door. My eyes found his blue ones and I could see the anguish in his face.

"Move it!" The officer shouted at me as he shoved his foot into my back, causing me to stumble and gasp out as my face hit the floor. The cop didn't have time to think before Dallas punched him in the jaw.

"Don't you hurt him!"

"Hey!" Another officer shouted as he drew his gun and pointed it at him while I was pulled to my feet. Dally put his hands up and they had him cuffed, too, and soon Ponyboy was with us.

"You want your rights read?" A slick black-haired one asked us, raising an eyebrow.

"Fuck you." Dally's voice was low and seemed to drip poison. That got us a shove from behind and we were soon out of the house and into the back of the police van.

"Dally, why'd you do that? " I asked, my voice probably sounding scared, and I wanted to cry, but I knew I couldn't. Not in front of him.

"I can't let you go to the cooler alone, kid." he said gruffly, not looking at me. Ponyboy was sitting in a corner, his shoulders softly shaking, his un-greased hair falling in his eyes. Pony wasn't afraid to cry in front of the over-bearing man that sat in front of me... so why was I?

"I can handle myself." I said looking away from him, my eyes seeming to burn. A tear fell lose from my eye and I tried to wipe it away, but my arms were behind my back and I couldn't.

"C'mon, Johnny, don't cry..." he said, attempting to comfort me, albeit awkwardly.

The doors of the back opened up and we were roughly yanked out of the vehicle, Dally trying to stop them from handling Pony and I roughly. His attempts failed as he got hit in the back of the head with a night-stick, whilst my eyes widened in horror for his safety.

We were led through a long hallway, with blank, white walls and floors. It reminded me of a hospital, and that thought made me shiver.

"You boys are gettin' your hair cut." the cop that was holding me sneered. I cringed at the thought as we were led into the room that as same as the hallway, only there were three chairs for the barber to cut hair in. The barber was sitting at a desk, reading a magazine.

"Three in, today, Phil?" He asked, as if he was surprised.

"You ain't touching my hair with those things." Dally said with a lethal expression on his face.

"Yeah, yeah." Dally was the first to go. He was shoved into the chair, or rather, he was wrestled into the chair, and then his hands and feet were cuffed. Every time the guy came at him with the scissors he would thrash, making it impossible for the Barber.

"Hey, you're getting that mop of yours cut whether you like it or not, so it's either you do this quietly, or we get more restraints." The barber was inches from Dally's face, and all of a sudden rage flared inside me. I didn't want anyone that close to him. Ever.

"I'd rather choke to death by restraints than let you cut an inch off my hair." Dally said to the barber, then he spit in his face. The barber wiped his face and then called for more restraints. It broke my heart to see Dally like this, his face contorted with rage, and his eyes staring me down. I was as helpless as he was. After moments of cuffing and chains clanking, Dally's hair was getting snipped off. I cringed every time I saw a lock of hair get snipped off. It was horrible, all of his tuff hair… gone.

Dally was taken out of the restraints. Which took a few minutes, and led to the bench that me and Pony were sitting on. Dallas Winston looked… defeated. Something I never thought possible. He was shoved down and a firm hand grasped my upper arm, drawing me roughly from my seat. I winced as I was thrown into the chair and cuffed in.

"You're not gonna struggle like he did, are you?" the barber asked me. I shook my head, and the noise that came from Dally was like a dying animal.

"Johnny… Johnny, why would you give up like that?!" Dally's voice was broken, like his last hope had been snuffed out, you could see it in his eyes too. I couldn't look at him, I couldn't even answer him. All I did was let silent tears sweep down my cheeks. I was out of the chair in five minutes and back in my seat between Pony and Dally. Pony's turn came and that left me alone with Dally, who was now staring at me like I had cut his hair myself.

"It's just hair..." I said finally, while Pony was still in the chair, his hair was the longest out of all of ours, so it'd take longer.

Dally just looked at me for a few more minutes and then shook his head as if he was coming out of a trance.

"But you let them win."

"It's better than getting beat up." I mumbled to the floor, I didn't have the courage to look at Dally anymore. I didn't deserve to drink in his face with every second I had. Not anymore, not after what I had just put him through.

When Ponyboy was done with his hair, we were picked up and taken to our cell. Thankfully, we all got a cell with each other. At least we wouldn't be alone at night. We got our bright, orange jump-suits and our regular clothes taken away from us.

"Alright, boys, back into your cell. You've got paper and pens in your cell so you can write to your family but that's all the contact that you get, you can ask them to send you things, but we only allow books, cards, and if you're lucky, spinning tops through, so if they send any weapons or food or anything like that through, you won't get it." The warden explained to us, he wasn't as mean, or rough as the other cops were, he was actually decent; he didn't make me feel like a worthless piece of crap.

We turned around and stuck our hand out of the cell bars to get un cuffed and once we were we all went to lay down on the beds, for me it seemed to be the right thing to do.

Pony took the bed in the corner, and Dally took the one on top of me. I could see that Dally wasn't doing anything particular and Ponyboy was crying again. I felt so horrible; it was like it was hollowing my stomach out. I got off my bed and sat on Pony's, and put my hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down.

"Pony, what's the matter?" I asked him.

"Oh, you mean other than the fact that we're in jail?" he asked, his voice like razors. I cringed and my eye-brows knitted together.

"There has to be something else."

"Soda and I are gonna get put into a boy's home." he said bitterly. The realization hit me hard; I had gotten the brothers separated, in just one action. Their family would be destroyed again, but the only difference was that it was my fault.

"C'mon Pony, you can't seriously believe that." I said, trying to force reassurance into my voice, but it wouldn't work if I didn't believe it myself. Ponyboy glared at me, and shook his head.

"Yeah, I can, it's what Darry's been telling me all my life, 'Don't get into any trouble with the cops. You'll get put into a boy's home.'" Pony's voice broke on the last word and he was crying again.

"I don't want to." he sobbed into the little cot that he had. I swallowed and hugged him.

"Pony, don't worry, we won't let that happen, you and Soda getting taken away from Darry is like chocolate cake without the Coke, or really for Two-Bit, without the beer. It just doesn't work." I said, trying to use the simile as a joke. It worked because I was awarded a smile by the younger boy.

Dally was off his bed and with Pony after that, rubbing his back. "Yeah, kid, don't worry. You won't get taken away, I'd kill someone before I'd let that happen." he said with that small crooked line of a smile.

"Dally, you'd kill someone for a sandwich." I said sarcastically, the now short haired blonde looked at me with those blue eyes and gave a small chuckle.

"Yeah, you're right…"

"I know I'm right." Dally knocked me on the side of my head.

"Don't get cocky, kid." he said to me, his eyes a light with amusement. I laughed at that and looked at Pony to make sure that he was okay. He smiled at me, as if to clear me from my duties and I walked back to my bed, climbing into it, and rolling over towards the wall. My eyes shut, and the last sounds that I heard were the crinkling of the metal chains as Dally clamored into his bed, and we all fell fast asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I am a horrible person. Not only for writing this and causeing my body to lose emense amounts of fluids from crying. But, also, because I failed to mention my lovely Beta, Twilighttemptress. She is one of my really close and personal friends and I love her to bits. TOnight, she stayed up with me until god knows when helping me with the plot and what's going to happen in the comeing chapters. She is the best Beta anyone could ever have and if I didn't have her, this would be another "Sibling to Share" Fanfiction and no one wants that. I'm sorry that I didn't mention you in the first two chapters babe, I love you so much, and thank you for making my work shine.**

**Enjoy the chapter 3**

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The clanging on the bars woke me up and I looked around. It was morning, Pony, Dally, and I had slept the entire day away. Sun shone through the bars on the floor and it looked as though it, too, wanted to get out of this place.

"Alright, boys, c'mon." The warden said, banging on the cell bars, trying to wake us up. I still wasn't fully awake, but at least I was able to pull myself into a sitting position. Dally was a heavy sleeper and he didn't like to be woken up.

"C'mon, Dal, geddup." I mumbled groggily. My brain gave the command to my legs and soon I was standing. I turned around to see a sleeping lump that took the form of Dally.

"Dally, we gotta get up." I said, looking over at Pony, who looked back at me steadily, last night's tears still dry on his face.

Dallas groaned and rolled over in his sleep to face me and opened his eyes. There I was again. I waited for the blonde hair that I loved to fall forward into his face, but when it didn't, I felt a wave of guilty depression come over me. All of our tuff hair was gone.

"What do you want, kid?" he asked, his speech slurred with sleep. His eyes closed again and I rolled my brown ones.

"The cop says we gotta get up." I looked over to the man that was in front of our cell and shrugged apologetically. Dallas pushed himself into a sitting position, with his feet hanging over the edge of his bed.

He looked over to the warden and shrugged his shoulders. "You gonna tell me why you had the kid wake me up?"

The warden held a piece of paper out for someone to get. Ponyboy was the closest so he got up and grabbed it from him. He looked it over and then back to the warden.

"Hey… uh…" Ponyboy tried to find a name for the warden, "Why do I have a different schedule than them?" Pony asked, his voice a note higher with fear.

"Call me Andy and you've got a different showering schedule. That's it. And it's because one of the other boys tried to kill another boy and we had to separate them, so we had to separate you three." Andy looked at the boys apologetically, his moustache twitching a bit.

"I wish I could keep you guys together, I know what it's like to come from where you guys come from. I tried to keep you together, but I just couldn't. This'll be the only time you're apart from each other, though." Andy smiled at us, and I smiled back.

Ponyboy looked at me and I shrugged at him. "Can't be that bad. Lemme see that." I took the paper from him. Looking it over, I groaned; breakfast wasn't for another two hours.

"Shower time is soon…" I said to Dally, still looking over the paper. I looked back up at Andy and walked over to him.

"Hey, do you have any tape?" I asked, I wanted to hang up the schedule so we could memorize it.

"You've got tape in the drawer on the table." he said as he walked away. I watched him go, and when I couldn't see him anymore, I walked over to the wall and hung the paper up after grabbing a piece from the drawer.

Dallas was off the bed and next to me. I could feel his warm breath running down my neck and an involuntary shiver ran itself through me. His necklace was cold against my skin, and it sent goose bumps down my back.

"Hey Pony, you think you can manage without us for an hour?" He asked, as I looked over at the smaller boy. He nodded and then went back to his bed.

"I wish I could have chocolate cake." he mumbled to nothing and no one in particular. I smiled and walked over to his bed. I sat down and nudged him with my elbow. "Don't worry; we'll be out of here in a few weeks." I said, trying to cheer the younger boy up, he looked at me and then a real Ponyboy smile grew on his face.

"Let's go, boys." Andy was back with cuffs for Dally and I. I punched Pony lightly on the shoulder before turning around for Andy to cuff me.

We walked in silence until we got to the showers and Andy told us to strip our clothes. We did so and then he pointed towards the faucets. "Go on, you get five minutes of hot water, so make it last." There were ten other guys in the showers with us, and all of them were older than me. I sighed, being the youngest in everything, next to Pony, was annoying and quite frankly, a little scary.

I turned on the water and got my hair wet. I got some on my hand and started massaging my head with it. Being it wasn't greasy, it took a short time to wash it.

Dallas was standing right next to me and I swear my face was as red as a tomato. I couldn't help my eyes wandering a bit as they fell on him. I don't think I could've been any redder had it been possible. Quickly changing my gaze, I made a point of keeping my eyes ahead of me.

A cat call was given and I looked up to see another man staring at me. My eyes widened a bit and I quickly turned away, my nerves on edge. Dally was almost done washing his hair, which meant that his eyes were closed. A hand hit my rear and I whirled around, mortified, and faced the culprit, full front.

"Hey baby-face. Why don't we go back to my cell and we…" The man wasn't able to finish his sentence as Dally's fist connected with the man's jaw. I jumped a bit, surprised, and looked at him with surprise etched on my face. He saved me.

"Don't you even think about touching him, or I swear, you'll eat my fist." Dally's voice was full of menace and his eyes were shooting daggers. The guy looked at Dally, and I swear, for a split second, I could see ice cold fear in his eyes.

"Sorry, man, I didn't know he was already someone's fuck buddy." The guy looked at Dally as if he had actually meant it. I blinked a few times. Did he actually say…

Another punch was dealt to the guy and his nose had begun to bleed. Dally was getting angrier and angrier by the second. If this guy knew what was good for him he would stop now.

"Hey, hey! Break it up in here!" A guard came if, after he had turned off the water, and separated Dally and the guy.

Dally's finger was pointed at the guy. "Don't ever call him that, you hear? He ain't no fuckin' whore." Dally and I were escorted out of the showers and told to put our clothes back on, which we did. It was cold when out of the steamy shower room, and I was beginning to get the chills. When we were finished getting dressed, we got the cuffs put back on and then we were back in our cell, watching Pony leave for his shower.

I waved at Ponyboy, and he waved back. I hoped he would be alright.

"Hey, Johnny, take a look at this." Dally was over at the desk, his head bent over a piece of paper. I looked down and began to read.

_Natures first green is gold,_

_her hardest hue to hold._

_Her early leaves a flower,_

_but only so an hour._

_Then leaf subsides to leaf,_

_so Eden sang to grief._

_So dawn goes down to day._

_Nothing gold can stay._

_-Robert Frost_

Dally kept staring at the poem like it was a monkey. I looked up at him with a small smile of my face.

"What?" I asked him, my hand trying to run itself through the hair that wasn't there anymore. Dally turned to look back at me and he gave me a rewarding smile.

"Just wondering why Pony wrote it…" He said with a shrug. I looked at him for a few moments and then a big grin cracked through. Dally looked at me like I was insane.

"What?" he asked incredulously.

"It's just a poem." I said, shaking my head, "And Ponyboy didn't write it, Robert Frost did." I said, pointing to the bottom. My legs were beginning to hurt, as were my feet, but my legs seemed to be rooted to the ground and I couldn't move. Finally, after about five minutes of silently pleading with my legs, they got the energy to move, and carried me over to my bed, where I laid down. Dally followed me, pulling himself up onto his own bed.

"Hey, Dally?" I was lying on my back with my hands behind my head.

His head poked put from over the side of his bed. "Yeah?"

I shrugged, "I was just wondering if I should write my folks…I mean, I think they should know what's going on… don't you?" Dally stared at me for a second, his eyebrows furrowing together. He looked like he was angry… or in pain? Nah, that wasn't right…

Then when my name came out of his mouth, it sounded like he hated me.

"Johnny, your parents wouldn't care if you were dead in the street. If they want to know what's going on with you, then they can come and visit you, but they won't and you know it. They don't care. My dad don't care, and look how well I'm getting on, you don't see me worryin' about it! Damn it, Johnny, you don't need them. I'll be dammed if they even know you're alive. I mean, c'mon, Johnny, you've got the gang… hell, you've got me!" My eyes were wide as I saw the hurt in his own. He flung himself back onto his bed without a sound and I gulped, hoping that he wasn't mad at me. Before I knew what I was doing, I was standing up, and facing Dally's bed. His eyes were closed and his face was scrunched up.

I nudged his arm, "Dally?"

One eye opened, and there it was again, the fire that was in his eyes when he was beating the shit out of that guy. This time something was different. I couldn't put my tongue on

"What?" his voice matched his eyes.

"I… Thanks. For today. And for everything." Our eyes connected and I felt as if my heart stopped. This weird feeling I've been having for so long whenever he got close to me, whenever he'd done something for me. Damn it to hell, I was in love with him. I was in love with Dallas Winston.

Dally, the one who I looked up to, the one who I wanted to prove myself to… how did I just now realize it?

The older boy smiled back at me and his hand reached out to ruffle my hair, but then drew back, a disappointed look on his face. There was no hair for him to ruffle. So, instead, he patted my cheek, a smile on his face. My heart jumped a little. That smile… I expected for his hand to pull back, but it didn't. Instead, he stared fiercely into my eyes, a look in them that made my throat dry a little. He pulled my face closer to his until our lips touched in a fleeting kiss.

My eyes closed and I tried to deepen the kiss. It was a little awkward since it was my first kiss, but Dally seemed to like it. As we continued the kiss, his mouth shifted and the bed springs creaked, which meant he had moved to get a better angle.

My ears got the better of me and I heard the clinging of chains coming our way. It scared me, and I pulled back quickly, face flushed. I flung myself onto my bed, trying to control my breathing. What would Pony think if he saw…? I mean, I wasn't actually gay or anything... it was probably just hormones. Yeah… just hormones. Ponyboy had come back from his shower and I gave him a small smile as Andy took his cuffs off. Ponyboy walked into the cell and flung himself on his bed. He looked… shaken.

"Hey Pony, what's the matter?" I asked him, from my bed. Ponyboy jerked his head towards me, a defensive look in his eyes for a moment.

"Nothing, I'm just tired." He mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. I glanced at him curiously, but decided to change the subject. He didn't want to talk about it.

"What's up with this?" I asked, just in case Dally was still curious. I glanced at him and he hadn't been looking in mine and Pony's direction. At the mention of the poem, he turned his head and raised his eyebrows slightly, now listening.

"It's a poem, by Robert Frost." He said plainly. I rolled my eyes and put the paper back on the desk.

"Well, yeah, Pony. I got that much; I mean, why did you write it down?" I asked, rolling my eyes again. Ponyboy got off his bed and went to go and hang the paper up.

"I wrote it down, because it's gonna give us something to do while we're here. I want to know the meaning of it. I never really understood it, so I thought maybe this could help pass the time. Coming up with ideas and stuff." He explained. Dally was now on his side, watching us, blue eyes curious.

"Anyway, here's what's going to happen. Every time you have an idea, you going to write it down and put it in this drawer." Ponyboy motioned to a drawer and nodded, signalling that the conversation was over.

I shrugged, I probably wouldn't be suggesting anything, I wasn't smart enough.

Dally on the other hand, seemed to be really excited about it. It hadn't really struck me as something that Dallas would really be interested in, but that was just me. Whatever he wanted was fine with me. As long as it made him smile more. I hated it when he was frowning or his usual sullen-self.

"Alright, and what happens if we all agree on the meaning?" he asked Ponyboy, who looked back at him for a second.

"Then whoever came up with the theory can have a whole pack of smokes, courtesy of me." He said with a small smile. Ponyboy walked back over to his bed, laying down on it, his head in the pillow.

"Don't get too comfortable, kid. Going to get something to eat, soon." Dally mumbled. At the mention of food, my stomach grumbled, which led Dallas to crack a grin. We were hungry, and when we got food, we would have more energy. It had been scientifically proven, courtesy of Two-bit.

_~Flash Back~_

"_Well, if it's true, than Soda will be more energetic than Johnny." Man, that boy could be so stupid, but I had gone along with it anyway. My stomach was growling and I was bent down, holding my hands out to receive a ball. I had skipped breakfast for Two-bit's stupid experiment and I felt as sluggish as a sloth._

"_Hike!" the call was half hearted and I felt like I was going to fall asleep any minute. The pig skin was in my hands in three seconds, and I had to jump back to avoid Ponyboy tackling me to the ground. I dodged that and saw that Darry was open, so I called his name and launched the ball._

_Soda took me down, and just before I landed down on the ground, I saw the ball hit the ground ten feet away from Darry. Damn Two-bit, if I had food in my stomach then I would be able to make that pass._

_When I got up, Two-bit handed me a slice of Chocolate cake. "See? I told you."_

_~End Flash Back~_

"Hey, Johnnycake… Johnny? Kiiiid?" Dally's hand was waving front of my face, apparently I had zoned out. I looked up and blinked. My face must have been real stupid looking because Pony burst out laughing.

"What?" I asked, even my voice sounded stupid.

"Time for breakfast, kid, c'mon/" Dally smirked and I watched as he walked over to the cell door to be cuffed. Ponyboy and I followed, tears falling from his eyes, he sure was laughing hard. It was almost turning hysterical. I turned around once the cuffs were on and we were walked over to the cafeteria. The smell wasn't a particularly good one, boloney and bread. I had a feeling that that was what we would be having until we got out of this joint. I could really use a smoke right now.

The cops led us to an empty table and a cook put baloney sandwiches on our plates, along with some gross looking water, and something I could guess was mashed potatoes. I sighed as I watched Ponyboy start to shove the food into his mouth. I didn't really want it, but I was so hungry.

I looked at my food with disgust written on my face, and sighed. The bread was coarse in my hands and when I took a bite, it tasted as good as it looked. I would have to deal with it though; it was all I was having for the next few weeks. The thought made me shiver. The baloney tasted like mold and the bread cut the roof of my mouth in a couple of places, not to mention it was dry.

I looked over to Pony, who looked back at me the same look of disgust on his face. Dally just stared through it all, his face a mask of nothing.

Someone bumped into me and I turned around, it was that guy from the showers. I swallowed and set my sandwich down.

"Hey, kid, why don't you ditch Blondie over here and come on back to my cell? I promise not to be too rough with ya." he growled and I felt a disgusted look fall on my face. I did my best to ignore him, but I could see in my peripheral the dark grin as he sat down next to me, snaking an arm around my waist and pulling me closer to him. Stiffening, I felt his breath in my ear, saying words that I really didn't want to hear from this guy. Then he moved his hand to my groin and I jumped a little, first seeing the horror-stricken expression on Ponyboy's face. Then I looked to my left and saw that Dallas wasn't there. Where did he…?

My own question was answered as the guy was pulled away from me roughly, now fallen over on the ground. I scooted away a bit, turning to see Dallas standing over the other prisoner, fists clenched, a rage in his eyes that kind of scared me. He looked like he wanted to say something, but the anger he had in him was holding on too fiercely for him to let words out. The man on the ground glared at him, pushing himself off the ground. He was taller than Dally by a few inches, but that didn't seem to bother Dally none.

Dallas grounded his teeth together before speaking now, his words dripping in venom, "What did I say about him?" He looked ready to explode and I saw the rest of the cafeteria holding all their attention on this, some with surprised looks on their faces while most with encouraging looks.

"Hey, wise guy, you should know the rules by now, from how many times you've been here," I guess they'd seen each other before, "in here, everything is fair game." He reached his arm towards me, jerking my shirt collar to where I almost fell off the table myself. That's what did it. Dally lunged at the guy, taking him down. The look in his eyes made me worry, let alone what the guy under his gaze was feeling. The look on his face proved he was as scared shitless as he should be. Hit after hit was landed on the guy's face, trapped under my blonde friend.

"Don't."

Punch.

"You."

Punch.

"Ever."

Punch.

"Touch."

Punch.

"Him."

Punch.

"Again."

On the last word, Dally's fist hit the guy so hard that three teeth were knocked out of his mouth. Dally was grabbed by three guys, and heaved off of the victim, who got up, and fell over almost instantly.

"Hey, Tony, you okay?" One of his friends asked him when he was standing up again. Dally was being taken away from me, shaking in absolute rage, so I got up and followed him.

"Where are you taking him?" I asked, having to jog to keep up with them. My voice was a little more shrill than I wanted it to be. Ponyboy's eyes were wide and he was silent. Well, it must've been insane, seeing that guy get beaten. Dally really was dangerous, but I'd never noticed before.

"He's going into solitary confinement. Andy will take you boys back to your cell." One of the guards moaned as he led Dally down a hallway, away from us. Andy took Ponyboy's arm, and mine and we were led back to our cell.

For a few minutes, I was speechless and didn't know what to say. I fell back onto my bed in disbelief, and shoved my face in my hands. Pony sat on the bed with me and put a comforting arm around my shoulders.

"It's my fault that he's in there." I knew that it was true. If I wasn't so weak and defenceless, I could've just stopped that guy from messing with me in the first place.

Pony didn't have anything to say, all he could do was put his head on my shoulder and sigh. Soon he half heartedly mumbled, "Don't worry, he'll be back in three days tops." The thought comforted me, but I was still on edge about Dally. Ponyboy got up and went to go and sit at the desk.

"I'm gonna write to Darry and Soda, you want anything?" he asked me as he took out a sheet of paper and a pen.

"Yeah, a book of poems and a deck of cards." I said with a small nod. I lie back on my bed and put my hands behind my head. That was really all I could do.

"Alright, I was going to ask for those things anyways, and Gone with the Wind. We can all take turns reading aloud." Ponyboy said absentmindedly. I sighed and leaned back onto my pillow, closing my eyes. I could see Dally's face and I thought of how boring it'd be without him here. Hopefully he came back soon, or else this was going to last much longer than I want it to.

* * *

**AN: Oh noes! What's gonna happen now that Dally's gone? I dunno, you'll have to drop a review to find out, and get this! Everytime someone reviews, there will be 500 words written. SO! Keep the reviews comeing! I love them.**

**And again, thank you to Twilighttemptress for her lovely Beta-ing skills. By the way, when you read this chapter, I couldn't find any of the Errors... **


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Ok, I had only one review, that's my excuse for only 604 words, next time review. )**

**Also thanks to Twilight Temptress (See got your name right this time) for being my beta.**

* * *

Darry sat alone at home, his mind only on Ponyboy. The kid just wasn't cut out for jail. Darry's head turned to the hole in the wall that he'd punched once the fuzz had left. Soda had been crying in his room for the past two days and Darry just didn't have the energy or brain function to go and talk to him. The oldest greaser had only just stopped crying a few hours ago.

Something fell through the mail slot on the door and fell lazily to the floor. Darry stood up and walked slowly over to the door, bending down to pick up the pristine envelope. He turned it over in his hands, Ponyboy's neat, yet boyish script was written across the envelope.

"Hey, Soda." he said with a heavy voice. Darrel walked back to his favored chair and sank into it, the letter still firmly clutched in his hands. Soda came out of his room, tear stains on his clothes and face and it broke Darry's heart to see Sodapop like this.

"Yeah?" he said, even his voice was broken.

Darry held out the letter and told him to open it, which he did. There were two pieces of paper, one a list and the other the actual letter.

_Soda and Darry,_

_Don't worry about me so much, I'm fine. It's really cool here. There are older guys that look tuffer than Dallas and I never thought that that was possible. Dally got put into solitary confinement cause he wailed on some guy who was trying to put the moved on Johnny, I never realized how protective he is over Johnny._

_I got a different showering schedule than the other two, and it's a little weird, showering in front of guys like that, but I get along fine, so don't worry._

_I know you two are. Worrying, I mean. You've got to stop; all I gotta do is tell the truth, right?_

_We're allowed to get some stuff from our families so I put a list of stuff that Johnny and I want and I'd really love it if you would send it. There's not much to do around here, and I'd rather have a book than sleep._

_Johnny asked me to ask you if you'd tell his parents. I don't know why he cares about them so much, but he asked me to and I can't say no to him._

_Anyways, I gotta go, time for the gym. Don't forget, I love you guys._

_Ponyboy Michael Curtis._

Darry took the letter from his brother and watched as tears began to fall out of his eyes. Soda went back into his room and shut the door. Darry knew he was going to cry again. He also knew that he himself was going to cry, again. Darry promised himself that if he ever got mad at Ponyboy ever again he would just tell Pony that it was enough and that he didn't want to argue. All Darry wanted was the best for the kid.

Darry felt the piece of paper cut through him and he clutched it to his chest and cried as hard as he could. All he wanted was Ponyboy back; he couldn't lose another family member.


End file.
